The Arts and Traditions of Hula at Kilauea. This VAC program features a Hula Kahiko Informance with kumu Leilehua Yuen and Manu Josiah. A 50-minute narrated demonstration of the preparation, protocol and offering of traditional hula and chant at the hula platform in Hawaii This outdoor presentation takes place rain or shine at the hula platform located near Volcano Art Center Gallery. The audience is encouraged to bring sitting mat and sun/rain gear.

On the same day, there is a hands-on cultural demonstration from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm at volcano Art Center Gallery porch. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. All events are free (donations welcome); park entrance fees apply.

Hawai‘i National Park, HI – Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park continues its tradition of sharing Hawaiian culture and After Dark in the Park programs with the community and visitors throughout February. These programs are free, but park entrance fees apply. Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:

When: Wed., Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon

Where: Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai

Lā‘au Lapa‘au with Momi Subiono. Momi is a native Hawaiian practitioner of Hawaiian massage (lomilomi), kapa making (bark cloth), and lā‘au lapa‘au (Hawaiian medicinal plants and practices). She creates natural herbal products to help the Hawaiian community. Her goal is to create a renewed awareness, understanding and use of traditional Hawaiian plants for healing. Part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ ongoing ‘Ike Hana No‘eau “Experience the Skillful Work” workshops. Free.

When: Tues., Feb. 14, 7 p.m.

Where: Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium

Nā Wa‘a: The Canoe. Nā Wa‘a is an epic, multi-generational presentation on Hawaiian canoes, their various methods of construction, and the formative influence of the wa‘a (canoe) on Hawai‘i’s past, present, and future. Join Capt. Kiko Johnston-Kitazawa as he takes us on a voyage of Hawaiian canoes, from the first arrivals, to working fishing vessels, giant war canoes and the sleek modern racing craft of today. Part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ ongoing After Dark in the Park series. Free.

When: Wed., Feb. 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium

Mark Yamanaka: Live in Concert. Join award-winning singer/songwriter Mark Yamanaka in concert. Mark will share songs from his critically acclaimed debut CD, Lei Pua Kenikeni, which earned him four Nā Hoku Hanohano awards in 2011: Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Most Promising Artist, and Song of the Year. Mark is one of three musicians to sweep all four categories with a debut CD. Part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ ongoing Nā Leo Manu “Heavenly Voices” presentations. Free.

When: Wed., Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to noon

Where: Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai

Feather Kāhili-Making. Mother/daughter team Violet May Makuakāne and Helene Hayselden will demonstrate the art of making a feather kāhili, a symbol of Hawaiian royalty. Simply watch and learn, or join in and make your own kāhili to take home. Part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ ongoing ‘Ike Hana No‘eau “Experience the Skillful Work” workshops. Free.

When: Tues., Feb. 28, 7 p.m.

Where: Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium

Don’t Look Back. Hawaiian Myths Made New. The perpetuation of Hawaiian culture is alive and well in this beautiful new collection of 17 favorite mo‘olelo (tales), edited by Hawai‘i author Christine Thomas. The tales are retold with a modern twist by some of Hawai‘i’s most notable writers, including Ian MacMillan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ku‘ualoha Ho‘omanawanui, W.S. Merwin, and others, including nationally best-selling novelist and Waimea resident Darien Gee – aka Mia King – who will join Thomas for this special reading and book signing. Part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ ongoing After Dark in the Park series. Free.

At the southern edge of Volcano Village on the Bid Island lies an ecological rarity: a lush, 200-year-old patch of native rainforest unspoiled by glory bush, kahili ginger or other alien species that have invaded forest across the Islands. Few such pimeval forests remain, even in nearby Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Fewer still are so accessible.

The Niaulani Forest was once home to the state's Kilauea Ranger Station, which protected it from the ranching and charcoal-making operations that damaged much of the surrounding forest. When Volcano Art Center took over the station in 1997 to build its new headquarters and educational campus, it signed a voenant to preserve the remaining forest. A short easy trail winds through the four-acre tract, and signage highlights the many native plants, from massive 75-foot-tall koa and ohi'a trees to delicate mosses, lichens and tiny ferns covering the trunks in such profusion that every tree is like a little forest in itself.
Every Monday at 9:30a.m. volunteers lead visitors on a free tour of the forest's treasure trove of native plants. Giant hapu'u pulu tree ferns, with their golden "fur" or pulu, grow alongside the rarer hapuu 'i;i, which have stiff, bristly hairs instead of pulu; sometimes towering above both, slender and graceful, are even rarer meu ferns. In their shade grow all types of smaller ferns: shrub-sized 'ama'u, viny uluhe, delicate, foot-tall ho'io. Visitors frequently hear the distincrive whirring of 'apapane wings as the scarlet-colored native birds flit among the ohi'a trees, feeding on their red blossoms.

Amanda Spaur, who coordinates the tours, notes that the forest walk attracts a different kind of visitor, "People are genuinely interested in knowing what Hawaii really is," she says. "It feels like everyone you share it with is gaining from the experience." Those who can't make the Monday tour can still explore the forest with a tour brochure, available in the Volcano Art Center's main building.

In 2009 Big Island artist Terri Lei Napeahi was preparing an exhibit of Native Hawaiian artwork for Hilo’s Prince Kuhio Plaza during Merrie Monarch week. How many eight-foot-long tables, mall management asked, would she need for her displays? The answer, Napeahi said, was none. This wasn’t going to be some rinky-dink crafts show with wares splayed out on tables. This was going to be a genuine art exhibition, with paintings hanging on walls and artifacts in glass cases.
With the help of cousins and carpenter friends, Napeahi transformed a cavernous retail space once occupied by Jeans Warehouse into an intimate art gallery. The week-long show she curated brought together everything from antique lauhala hats and precious feather lei to drawings and paintings by Native Hawaiian children.

In 2010 Napeahi’s temporary gallery found a home at the Merrie Monarch Festival. In 2011 temporary became permanent when Napeahi returned to the mall to open a year-round art space: “Papa Mu” known also as the konane (checker board game), is the name of Terri Napeahi's Gallery. The inspiration of this name came from hiking and gathering information about her ancient ancestors in the ruins of Pohue and Kahahakea in Ka’u.

Today it occupies an old Foot Locker, and where once you could buy sneakers, now you can see the work of sixty Hawaiian artists, many of whom have never sold their art before let alone displayed it in a gallery. When visitors question the exclusion of non-Hawaiian artists, Napeahi explains that art by Hawaiians is a unique product, one in which this particular gallery specializes. “The whole idea is the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture through the arts,” Napeahi says.

Prices ranges from $6 for a small ceramic piece to $160,000 for a twelve-piece set of kou wood calabashes and bowls that would look right at home in Hulihe‘e Palace. Many of the pieces are fully functional objects, so beautiful in their simplicity or ingenious in their craftsmanship that they have no trouble standing side by side with paintings, fiber arts and other more traditional media. So on one pedestal you see a bronze sculpture of Pele while on another you see poi pounders—all on pedestals, by the way, that were constructed from the shelving Foot Locker left behind.

“Going green,” with an eye toward self-sufficiency, is a goal that an increasing number of Island residents are striving for. The Big Island now produces only 10 to 15 percent of our food, which puts us in the unenviable position of having to rely upon vulnerable transportation systems, with the ever-present threat of being only a few days away from empty grocery store shelves.But there is more—much more—to cultivation than mere food production … there is also beauty, savoring, human history and culture, and healing.

Beginning in February 2012, the Lyman Museum will offer a unique exploration of the Big Island’s agricultural potential through a five-part series of educational excursions.

Rambutan

Using the image of “The Garden,” these excursions will take us to a number of research and producing farms. We’ll learn about water, land, and power resources; hear specialists in food production, transportation, and marketing; hear pros and cons of genetically modified food production; consider the cultural aspects of food that shape our diets; and enjoy the sensory experiences our gardens provide.

Join the excursions for one or more of these exceptional learning experiences:

* Saturday, February 4: The Garden as Provider I
* Saturday, March 17: The Garden as Provider II
* Saturday, April 14: The Garden as Teacher
* Saturday, May 19: The Garden as Healer
* Saturday, June 16: The Garden as Paradise

Bananas

Among other activities, participants will visit an apiary, a coffee and tea plantation, an experimental farm, hydroponic gardens, a self-sufficient home, a Zen garden, an exotic products garden, a bonsai garden, and a palm garden. They will learn from experts regarding the locavore movement, about ethno gastronomy, and perception of taste and scent.

Dr. Judith Kirkendall and Leslie Lang will lead the excursions. Kirkendall is an anthropologist who specializes in the anthropology of food. Lang, author of “Exploring Historic Hilo” and co-author of “Mauna Kea,” has a master’s degree in cultural anthropology with a focus on Hawai‘i and the Pacific.

Tropical Gardens

Each excursion will begin at 8:30AM and end at about 3:00PM, with chauffeured transportation, free entry to featured activities, and product sampling opportunities. Lunch will be provided, and all tickets include same-day admission to the Lyman Museum upon return. Cost is $75 per excursion ($65 for Lyman Museum members).

Hawai‘i National Park, HI – The United States Mint will feature Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on a commemorative 2012 quarter to be released Aug. 27, 2012, through its America the Beautiful Quarters® Program.

The Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park coin depicts an eruption on the east rift zone of Kīlauea, and inscriptions include HAWAI‘I VOLCANOES, HAWAII 2012 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. It was designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Charles L. Vickers.

“We are extremely honored that Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park was selected by the United States Mint to represent our state on the America the Beautiful quarter, and that they solicited our design input,” said Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando.

According to the United States Mint, the Hawai‘i Volcanoes’ quarter will be the fourth quarter unveiled in 2012, and the 14th in a series of 56 circulating America the Beautiful quarters. The reverse side (or tails side) designs are symbolic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.

All coins in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program have a common obverse (heads side) featuring the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions on the obverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.

Other emblematic coins with 2012 release dates include El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

We are sending our Alohas to you and your families and wish you the very best for the New Year. This is the time of the year when we are all coming closer together and are thankful for the wonderful things we have in our lives. We would like to take the opportunity to thank you - our guests, friends and partners for staying at our B&B, your loyalty, patronage and support.

This year we up-graded our Facebook page. Please, take a look and "like" us. On Facebook or through our blog you can follow the latest developments regarding the lava flow, events and activities happening around Hale Moana Bed & Breakfast. There are many new pictures on our website.

BIG NEWS: Since December 9, 2011, the lava is back flowing into the ocean. It had stopped in February and for the most part of the year it was only visible from the helicopter. Breathtaking views and impressions from the boat or by foot can now be part of your vacation experience again.

For our Japanese speaking guests we added a collaboration with Toshi & Shiho Mochizuki, the owners of Aloha Breeze, who can help you with your travel arrangements.

Earlier this year Hale Moana Bed & Breakfast was awarded the Trip Advisor 2011 Certificate of Excellence. This Award is an outstanding achievement and recognizes Hale Moana Bed & Breakfast for its leadership in Quality of Service and Value in 2011. We feel very blessed and would like to express our sincere Mahalos to you - our guests and partners.
Hale Moana Bed and Breakfast is located in the beautiful and tropical area of Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii, 30 minutes from Hilo (International Airport) and the Volcanoes National Park, and 5 minutes from Pahoa. Hale Moana is a licensed, quality, inspected Hawaii B&B surrounded by two acres of tropical gardens in an ambiance of old Hawaii.

Our Big Island Hawaii Bed and Breakfast offers two suites with living room and kitchenette and one studio. All have private bathrooms and separate entrances. Amenities such as free Wi-Fi, laundry facility, BBQ grill, free parking,snorkels and maps, etc. are available to our guests. A gourmet island breakfast is included in our rates. We welcome families!
This last year has brought some health challenges for us, that we were able to overcome. Thank you, for your many prayers, we so much appreciate them. Our kids are getting bigger and we are getting older. We want to thank you again and hope to see you or hear from you in the New Year. Please, stay in touch!